28 per cent of credit fraud and ID theft victims 'blame themselves'

By IT section newsdesk

Published Monday, April 26, 2010

A ‘tidal wave’ of credit card fraud and identity theft is sweeping across parts of the UK, as 44 per cent of London commuters surveyed by Infosecurity Europe admit that they have suffered from bank/credit card fraud, with 42 per cent having been the victims of identity theft – and over a quarter of those polled say it was their own fault.

The average amount stolen was £1,448 per person, and 37 per cent overall did not recover their stolen money back from the bank involved. People that lost a small amount of money were less likely to get back their money from their bank than people who lost a large amount of money: 91 per cent of people who lost more than £5000 had their funds restored compared to only 41 per cent of people who lost less than £100.

The type of organisation that most people blame for making them vulnerable to fraud were retailers at 60 per cent; only 12 per cent said it was the banks; fault, while 28 per cent reckoned that their financial and identity thefts were their own fault.

The place that people said that they were most likely to have their details stolen from was online via websites or email, with 27 per cent reporting that this was how they were duped; 20 per cent said that face-to-face transactions in shops, hotels, and suchlike, was how their account details were filched. Being duped over the phone was the third most likely place to have details stolen, with 15 per cent of details being stolen this way.

Other cited ways that details were taken included cash point machines, online banking, and letters being intercepted in the post, with each of these methods having a likelihood of 13 per cent.

Infosecurity Europe event takes place this week at Earls Court, London, from 27th–29th April 2010. For FREE entry and further information about Infosecurity Europe, visit the website and register.